BB's Random Stuff

April 08, 2003

Recipes - #1: Butter Chicken

In my last entry, I talked
about the general situation with food here in Holland. Quickly recapping: I just
can't get used to it, so have to resort to cooking my own food.

In fact I have grown to enjoy it and usually prefer to make something myself
instead of getting take away or eating out. So I figure why not note down my
favourite recipes here. I will put down one every few days, which should
at the least be a place to store them, and at best give some inspiration for
more.

So without further ado, I present the first...

Butter Chicken

Makes enough for 4 people.

150ml plain yoghurt

4 tablespoons cream

50g ground almonds

1.5 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp bay leaves (crushed)

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp garam masala

4 green cardamom pods

1 tsp pulped ginger

1 tsp garlic pulp

1 can (400g) of tomatoes

1.5 tsp salt

1kg chicken, cubed into bite-sized pieces

75g butter

1 tbsp oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1) Place the yoghurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices,
ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt in a mixing bowl
and blend together thoroughly.
2) Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the
yoghurt mixture. Set aside.
3) Melt together the butter and oil in a medium wok or
frying pan. Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes.
4) Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for about 7-10 minutes.
5) Stir in about half of the coriander and mix well.
6) Pour over the cream and stir in well. Bring to the boil.

Serve garnished with the remaining chopped coriander

Yum yum. This is one of my favourite curries to make, it's nice and
sweet, and quite jiucy. It's comparable in quality to a decend
Indian restaurant, but the main thing that I have to watch out for
is ensuring not to make the sauce too thick when doing the stir-fry
stage.